A 38-year-old York County man is behind bars after a 10-year-old girl told police he repeatedly raped her, allegedly timing the assaults to occur every time her mother was admitted to the hospital for health issues. Russell Stabley IV of Delta now faces charges of rape of a child and corruption of minors, among other offenses tied to the alleged abuse.
According to local21news.com, charging documents filed by the Lewistown Borough Police Department accuse Stabley of forcing the child to have sexual intercourse at least six times. The child reportedly told police that Stabley sexually assaulted her every time her mother was in the hospital, and investigators said the alleged assaults occurred while the mother was away seeking treatment for her own health issues.
Police spoke with Stabley while he was held at the Mifflin County Correctional Facility on February 6, and he reportedly called the child a liar during that interview. Officers said no pertinent information was gleaned from the exchange. Stabley remains held at Mifflin County Prison, according to online court records cited in the outlet's report.
Charges Carry Steep Mandatory Minimums
Under Pennsylvania law, a conviction for rape of a child under age 13 carries a mandatory minimum sentence of at least 10 years in prison, with maximum penalties reaching up to 40 years and $25,000 in fines, per Pennsylvania's consolidated statutes. A conviction would also trigger Tier III classification under the state's Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act, the most severe tier, which mandates quarterly in-person reporting and lifetime registration, according to Goldstein Mehta LLC.
The corruption of minors charge Stabley faces is graded as a third-degree felony in Pennsylvania when it involves sexual contact, carrying up to 7 years in prison, a $15,000 fine, and 15 years of sex offender registration, the Zuckerman Law Firm notes. That grading is notably harsher than a standard corruption of minors charge, which is only a first-degree misdemeanor when it doesn't involve sexual contact.
Investigation Led By Lewistown Police
The Lewistown Borough Police Department, which filed the charging documents, serves as the primary municipal law enforcement agency for the borough that serves as Mifflin County's seat. The department was recently accredited by the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, according to reporting from The Sentinel. Stabley is currently detained at the Mifflin County Correctional Facility in Lewistown, which also functions as the county's central booking site for fingerprinting, arraignments, and Megan's Law processing.
Stabley's home in Delta sits in southern York County near the Maryland border, more than two hours from Lewistown, a distance Hoodline previously reported in coverage of the region. Delta is also home to Constellation's Peach Bottom Clean Energy Center. It remains unclear from available records why the alleged assaults and the family's connection to Mifflin County intersect across such geographic distance, and that detail has not been addressed in the charging documents referenced by local21news.com.
Child Abuse Reporting Remains A Statewide Concern
The case arrives amid ongoing scrutiny of how Pennsylvania handles child abuse allegations statewide. In 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services received 41,070 reports of suspected child abuse through its 24/7 ChildLine hotline, with 4,756 cases substantiated as confirmed victims across the Commonwealth, according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Under the state's Child Protective Services Law, mandated reporters including healthcare professionals, teachers, and law enforcement officers are legally required to immediately report suspected abuse to ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313.
Pennsylvania's child welfare system is state-supervised but county-administered, meaning local Children and Youth Services agencies investigate ChildLine reports alongside municipal police departments in each of the state's 67 counties. It is not yet known whether Mifflin County's CYS agency had prior contact with the family during the mother's hospital stays, a question that remains open as the case moves forward. It is also unclear when Stabley's preliminary hearing will be scheduled in Mifflin County Magisterial District Court.
